


Raindrop Prelude

by ghoulsandsunflowers



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, aight updating tags bc theres more angst than i planned hot damn, but comparatively none lol dont worry ur lil hats off, lil bit of angst, this still primarily a happy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-02-13 16:48:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12988278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghoulsandsunflowers/pseuds/ghoulsandsunflowers
Summary: Human au in which Kaneki works at a plant shop and Hide needs somewhere to shelter from the rain. Romance ensues.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> first ever thing ive written! go easy on me!!

Generally speaking, Hide didn’t like the rain.

He didn’t like how it made his clothes stick to his skin. He didn’t like how cold water would seep into his shoes and wet his socks. He didn’t like how it plastered his hair to his scalp, how it dripped from his from his nose to his mouth (gross) or how it trickled down the back of his neck like an icy finger trailing down his skin.

He was especially afraid of the threat it posed to his cycle ride home. Slippery streets are dangerous! Also didn’t help that Hide could barely see two feet in front of him.  
He could almost feel the icy rainwater soaking into his backpack and damaging his textbooks, not to mention his laptop carrying a twenty page assignment he _could not_ afford to lose.  
Hide needed someplace to shelter. Quick.

As he rode cautiously down the road, he scanned the streets for any possible place to stay and shelter for a bit - maybe a cafe, a library? Hell, he’d go for a museum if he had to. Then again, Hide never did have the patience for museums. Just hanging around for hours and _looking_ at shit… Hide could see himself slipping over a puddle he’d walked in and smashing face first into an exhibit. Maybe not a museum, then.

Hide had never been aware that you could even get a highstreet this long with, somehow, no coffee shops on it. Funny how there seems to be a Starbucks at every turn whenever you don’t need one, then the minute you wish for one? Boom. Every Starbucks seems to simultaneously piss off to the very corners of the earth.

Miserable, tired and soaked to the skin, Hide’s eyes landed on a small looking place, wedged inbetween a barbers and a tired looking butchers.  
A large display window took up most of the front. Hanging baskets swung gently either side. Wooden benches set in front were lined with flower pots, each cupping a small assortment of flowers. The door to the shop was closed (understandably, in this weather). It looked as if it had once been painted a bright red, but has faded to more of a pastel colour over the years.  
With almost a sob of relief, Hide spotted a bike rack to the right of the door. It was empty, besides a forgotten bike helmet lying and upside down. Hide hoped it’s owner wasn’t trying to ride helmet-less in this weather.

In what was probably more of a rush than necessary, Hide slid onto the pavement where he proceeded to hastily tie up his bike and hang his helmet on the handlebars.  
Hide pushed the shop door open with his shoulder, hearing the delicate ring of a bell as he did. He immediately spun round and shut the door behind him to keep the rain out.  
The first thing he noticed was how much quieter it was in here. The violent pounding of sleet had been reduced to the far away sound of raindrops hammering the tinny roof. He also became conscious of his own erratic breathing, which he calmed before pushing himself away from the door. 

Scanning his surroundings, Hide concluded he was in some kind of plant shop. A small one, certainly, possibly family owned? The floorboards under his feet were dusted with soil, as were the shelves surrounding the walls and the middle of the room. It seemed to be some kind of organised chaos, which Hide could appreciate. Flower pots were scattered all about. He saw some larger plants, small indoor trees, were placed on benches and the floor alike. He noticed that there were no lights on inside, only the dim light coming through the massive display window at the front and another on the wall on the left. Hide found the place rather cosy. 

How long until this storm let up? It wasn’t like there was anywhere to sit here, or anything to do particularly. Having said that, this place was pretty charming. It wouldn’t hurt to wander around. Besides, maybe Hide could get something to liven up his apartment with! His place really was decorated with the bare minimum (hey, what student can afford lavish décor), but it’s blatant emptiness was not doing any favours in making him look less lonely. Hide didn’t exactly want to be the person who replaced meaningful relationships with plants, but there’s no denying that a venus flytrap on his window sill would look pretty fuckin’ sweet.

Having said this, Hide knew fuck all about plants. What could even survive inside his apartment? It’d be just like Hide to buy a cactus and have it die on him within, like, a day.  
Eh, no harm in asking about these things. He was clearly going to be stuck here for a while, anyway.

Running his hands through his damp hair so it wasn’t lying sopping wet on his scalp, Hide sauntered towards the back of the shop. 

He spotted a counter, behind which a figure was hunched up and apparently reading a book. The counter top was overrun with clutter - Hide spotted a pair of pliers, four flower pots (two of which had been knocked over), several neglected flower stems and a coffee mug that read 'The Great Catsby.' Underneath was a cartoon drawing of what looked like a cat wearing a pink suit and holding a class of champagne.

Hide felt a little creepy just standing like a lemon and staring at this guy’s desk, so he cleared his throat.

The guy behind the counter let out a heroic squeak and shot his head up, hiding his face behind the paperback he was clutching. Hide scanned the cover. It read: _The Picture of Dorian Grey, by Oscar Wilde._

“Sorry,” the guy breathed. “You scared me there.”

Now that he had put down his book, Hide could make out the shopkeeper’s face. He looked around Hide’s age, with a messy bowl cut of black hair and a button nose. He was a lot paler than Hide, with rounder cheeks and large dark eyes. He wore a large knitted sweater under a filthy apron, and Hide could see a crooked name tag hastily pegged onto the apron pocket that said _‘Ken Kaneki’._

“Uhh…”  
“Can I help you?” They started at the same time.

“Oh sorry! You first,” Kaneki offered, carefully pulling out a bookmark and closing his novel. 

“Do you have… uhh…”

“A towel?” Kaneki supplied quietly, gesturing vaguely to Hide’s sopping hair.

Hide had been about to ask if Kaneki had any plants. It now occurred to him that that would have sounded incredibly stupid, and he couldn't help but be grateful that Kaneki had butted in.

“Yeah,” he answered instead. “Thank you so much! Sorry, I swear I’m not usually this miserable.” He gestured towards himself wildly. “This weather kinda puts a dampener on the mood, yanno?”  
Kaneki nodded gently as he got up slowly from his chair. 

“You seem like a sunny kind of person. I can understand.”

Hide watched as Kaneki strolled into what was probably the back room and emerged a second later holding a neatly folded towel.  
As he took his seat again and held the towel out to Hide, which he accepted gratefully, Kaneki continued.

“I quite like the rain.”

He seemed thoughtful. 

“I find it cosy. At least, when you’re inside. Besides, it’s always reminded me of that scene in ‘The Great Gatsby,’ the one where Gatsby is reunited with Daisy after five years.” He moved his gaze from the ceiling to Hide’s face. “Oh! Sorry if I’m ranting. Uh, have you read The Great Gatsby?”

Hide actually had. He wasn’t usually big on reading, but he remembered studying the book in literature as a teenager. 

“Yeah, actually. I wouldn’t say it’s the first thing that comes to mind when it rains, though.”

“Oh?” Kaneki asked. “What does rain remind you of then?”

Unrelenting cold? Eternal misery? Unsafe roads?

“Chopin’s Raindrop Prelude,” Hide decided. 

Kaneki’s eyebrows raised slightly and his mouth formed a little “O” before responding.

“Really? I wouldn’t have pegged you as the type to listen to that kind of music.”

Hide shrugged as he ruffled the towel through his hair aggressively. He fashioned a towel hat and straightened (he’d seen his mother do this as a kid and demanded to know how she did it), to which he swore he heard a snigger from Kaneki.

“Don’t be so quick to judge! I like all kinds of music!” He held one hand out in front of him and the other grasped his elbow as if studying a piece of art. He pulled an exaggerated pout and raised his eyebrows at Kaneki.

“I propose that Shostakovich’s best work is his fifth symphony, though I daresay that ‘Fireflies’ by Owl City challenges it in intellectual value. Also 'Flamingo’ by Kero Kero Bonito is a fucking banger.”

Kaneki giggled and snorted elegantly behind his hand.

“Wanna know what rain really makes me think of though?” Hide grinned.

“Go on,” prompted Kaneki.

Hide leaned forward and whispered,  
“What it feels like to walk with fucking sponges for shoes”

Kaneki threw his head back and laughed, and at that moment, Hide decided he wanted to hear it again.


	2. Chapter 2

A potted anthurium stood proudly next to the TV as a welcome addition to Hide’s apartment.

It had been placed strategically on the right facing the door, so should he have any visitors, they’d have to notice it. 

Hide did not get any visitors.

This did not make Hide appreciate having a houseplant any less. It was kinda nice to have something to take care of, seeing as he was not doing a superb job of taking care of himself. The floor was littered with crushed beer cans, empty wrappers and a couple of abandoned cigarette ends, all probably weeks old at this point.

Besides that, there wasn’t a huge amount to make his flat look very well lived in. When he’d first moved in, Hide had thrown up one or two band posters he’d taken from home in an attempt to liven the space up. Following that, he’d admittedly put little effort into making it nice for himself. There was no motivation to, knowing that no-one was likely to visit him.

But now, seeing the plant really seemed to lift his spirits a little. It certainly took up some useless empty space.

Perhaps he’d get another.

-

“Oi, Hide. For table three.” Hide looked up from the countertop he was wiping to see Touka offhandedly push what looked like a cappuccino in his direction before walking back to busy herself with another jar of coffee beans.

“’Aight.” Hide dug out a saucer to balance the drink on before scanning the café for the right table.

His workplace was honestly pretty tiny. Only a handful of tables, with a single shelf of books at the back. Most of the seats were simple wooden chairs, but the table by the bookshelf was armed with a huge armchair for the occasional bookworm who would order several drinks for the sake of sitting there for hours and reading.

Hide hadn’t been working here a hugely long time. Barely long enough to remember all the table numbers or the names of regulars, but it was a good job, he supposed. It was handy for covering basic uni expenses, and he found the atmosphere a lot cosier than his home. The pay wasn’t anything special, but it definitely beat busking, and it was nice to have a couple of work friends.

Hide wove around the shop, eyeing each table for the number. It was busier than usual. Hide could easily pin that on the rain insistently hammering outside. He found the right table eventually, next to the bookshelf. Donned by the unnecessarily large arm chair, it looked as if the occupant had been there for a while. Hide could see two empty coffee cups and a half finished croissant before a figure with their face in a book.

Wait… was that..?

Hide cleared his throat before placing the coffee on the table.

“Hm?” The figure lifted their head from behind the book, eyes sliding from the coffee in front of him and up to Hide, whose face broke out in a grin.  
“You!”

_“You!”_ Kaneki replied with, what Hide hoped, was equally pleasant surprise. He was wearing a cream coloured dress shirt which was buttoned all the way up (adorable), and Hide spotted a knitted sweater carefully placed over the back of the chair he was in.

Cute.

“So-“

“How-“

They started at the same time. Hoo boy, did this feel familiar. Hide straightened his work badge and smoothed out his apron before trying again.

“It’s good to see you man! I’ve never seen you here before, are you new to here? Or have I just not noticed you?” _Stop talking, Hide._ “What’s the book? How’s the shop?” _Give the poor boy a chance you buffoon._ “Are you well?” he settled on.

Kaneki smiled gently and nodded, leaning forward to pick up his drink and carefully blow on the surface.

“I’ve been here once before, but came back because I like this chair. The book is good, it’s my third time reading it and I’m still picking out things I hadn’t noticed before. The shop is surviving. Slow business but I appreciate having a job without too many human interactions. And yes,” he looked up and gave Hide a knowing smile. “I am well.”

Hide laughed, probably louder than necessary. Honestly, he wanted to stay and chat with Kaneki, but he was more or less out of excuses to stick around. Not to mention Kaneki most likely wanted to enjoy his cappuccino and novel without an overexcited student sticking his nose in. He began to bow in farewell, before Kaneki prompted, “How’s the plant I sold you?”

Grateful for a reason to carry on taking to Kaneki, Hide grinned.

“Awesome, man. Now my lounge actually looks like it’s owned by a refined adult! I actually consider it a new friend, too. I might give it googly eyes or a hat or something. I have named it Bradley though.”

The last part was not a lie. Nor was the rest of that sentence.

“I, uh, was actually thinking of coming back to your place for another,” Hide admitted. Kaneki blinked. 

“Another friend?”

“Another plant, you nincompoop. So yes. I think Bradley might get a bit miserable on his own. Rabbits die when they get lonely, yanno? Are, uh, plants at all like rabbits?”

Hide watched as Kaneki took a tentative sip of his drink.

“Well, I’d love it if you came back some time.” He then stiffened as if he’d said something he hadn’t meant to. And was that a blush Hide spotted? “Uh, we wouldn’t want Bradley dying of loneliness." 

He put down his cup delicately before continuing in a smaller voice. 

“I, um, listened to that piece. Raindrop Prelude. Chopin.”

Locking eyes with Hide, Kaneki added, “It’s pretty.”

Christ on a bike, now Hide could feel himself beginning to blush. Real smooth.

He took a breath to reply, but before he could he heard Touka yelling, 

“Hide! Get your ass back here! No-one’s paying you to flirt with customers!”

Hide sighed and put his face in his hands. Once he was certain the ground wasn’t going to allow him this one thing and swallow him up, he met eyes with Kaneki and smiled remorsefully.  
“Sorry, dude. I’ll let you get on with, uh,” He stooped over to scan the cover of the book, “Tess of the D’Urbervilles. And i – no, put that wallet away, it’s on the house. No, don’t give me that look! I’m trying to initiate friendship! I’m being nice!” Kaneki giggled and tried to force a wad of cash into Hide’s apron pocket, which he skillfully dodged. Kaneki leaned over the arm of the chair, stretching his arm out in Hide’s direction and pathetically throwing a couple of crumpled noted his way.

“Nope!” Hide half walked, half jogged backwards back to the counter where Touka was waiting and tapping her foot, arms crossed. Looking back at where Kaneki was sitting, Hide saw him scoop up the money by the chair and slip it into his pocket. He picked his book back up and stuck his nose right in, but Hide was pretty pleased to see a small smile still gracing his face. A beautiful face, Hide might add.

“Having fun over there?” Touka asked, smirking.

“Eat my entire ass, Touka."

-

Once he’d successfully and haphazardly stuffed his work uniform into his locker, Hide hauled his backpack onto one shoulder and headed out the back room.

“I’m off, Touka,” he called with a wave. 

“What? It’s only two in the aftern- oh yeah, morning shift on Thursdays. Alright, have a good one."

Hide maneuvered from the counter to the front door and groaned when he saw that the rain still hadn’t let up. Plus, he had left his bike on campus like an absolute knob, so he had to walk home. _No use in feeling sorry for yourself, Nagachika, You gotta rip the bandage off._ Hide braced himself for the worst and pushed open the door.

“Oosh.”

Hide whirled round to see Kaneki, now donned in his sweater and pulling on a winter coat.

“You’re still here?” Hide exclaimed. “Dude, my shift was like four hours. How many coffees did you get through?”

Kaneki dug through his book bag and was rewarded with umbrella. He straightened and hoisted the bag onto his shoulder. He scrunched his face up in thought before concluding, “About seven, I think?”

“Seven? How are you not bouncing off the walls?”

Kaneki tapped his nose.

“Decaf."

“Eh, well aren’t you the genius. Speaking of, it was a smart move to bring an umbrella. I think I might as well email my professors now telling them I’ll be off with a cold for the next week ."

“Oh, well…” Kaneki looked at his feet. “I was going to head to work. My shift starts in, um, half an hour. We can share my umbrella if you live in that direction?"

Hide did not live in that direction.

“Yeah! That’d be awesome!” Hide beamed and reached for the front door. He pushed it open and ducked under the umbrella Kaneki had opened. “Thank you so much, Kaneki! Honestly, you’re a lifesaver.”

Kaneki nodded in acknowledgement and took a breath.

“Ready?”

“I was born ready.”

They surged through the doorway and together, they battled the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!
> 
> hmu at tumblr, im @ghoulsandsunflowers
> 
> have a lovely day, love you all <3


	3. Chapter 3

When Hide was ten, he was in his school talent show. The school music room had a few crappy guitars gathering dust, and Hide had taken to working them out during break time. Over the course of a couple of months, he’d taught himself enough basic chords to get through a musical number or two. He was happy with this progress.

Before walking onstage, his teacher had stopped him to wish him good luck.

“Have your parents come tonight?” she had asked with a smile.

This confused Hide. Why would his parents be here? He voiced this.

His teacher looked a little taken aback. She suggested that they may have wanted to come and watch Hide play tonight. 

Hide doubted this. His mother didn’t care for this kind of music, and it’s not as if a ten year old with two months of experience would exactly sell it to her. He voiced this.

“That’s not the point,” his teacher had insisted. “They should be here to support you. They should be proud!”

Hide didn’t know how to respond to that. There was no “they” about this, anyway. Hide only had a mom.  
He didn’t mind that she wasn’t here. It wasn’t her fault that he had a talent show. Besides, she probably had something better to do. She always did.

Hide voiced this.

-

When Hide was thirteen, he tried his first cigarette. He didn’t really have any reason why, besides there being no-one who told him not to.

He didn’t like it. 

He’d coughed his guts up the second he’d breathed in. He’d been left with an aching throat and lungs that felt as if they were still clogged with smoke. He could still taste it on his spit.  
He was certain, as he sat at the dinner table, that his mother would smell the smoke on him. If she could, she didn’t comment.

The next day, Hide smoked another cigarette.

-

“I thought you said we were close!”

“We are,” Kaneki had to shout over the hammering rain.

They had been power walking under a shared umbrella for a good few minutes before a well timed gust of wind turned it inside out and broke the damn thing.  
The immediate course of action had been to leg it as fast as possible to the flower shop where Kaneki worked. 

“You’ve been saying that for hours now!”

“Hide, we’ve only been going, like, seven minutes. Look! Look, there it is. I told you!”

Hide whooped with joy and surged forward towards the direction of the shop.

Upon reaching the door, he grabbed the handle and yanked.

“It’s locked!” he yelled behind him.

“Yeah, gimme a second!” Kaneki caught up and brandished a key. Hide peered over his shoulder and laughed unnecessarily loud at his failed attempts to get it in the lock. After about the fourth try, the key successfully turned and Kaneki pushed the door with his shoulder, Hide at his heels. Hide slammed the door behind them, faintly noting the bell over the door. 

Everything was very still all of a sudden.

It was strikingly similar to Hide’s first time here. There was complete silence, besides two sets of heavy breathing and the distant hammering of the rain on the tinny roof.  
The shop was just as Hide remembered it. The room was softly lit by the massive display windows on the front and left of the shop. A single lightbulb hung from the ceiling, unlit.  
Plants of all shapes and sizes scattering work surfaces, wooden benches and dirty floorboards.

Perfect.

Hide looked over at Kaneki, who was hunched over with his hands on his knees as he panted. Kaneki looked up and locked eyes with Hide. One, two, three seconds of silence. They both burst out laughing. Hide wasn’t even sure what was funny. He hugged his stomach and howled, as Kaneki hobbled over to the counter, shoulders shaking. 

“Towel?” he called.

“Please,” Hide breathed, wiping his eye and following Kaneki to the back of the shop. 

“Think fast!” Hide heard from behind the counter.

“Huh?”

Hide looked up only for a towel to hit him square in the face.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! Are you okay? I thought you were going to catch it! I’m sorry! I should have been looking -”  
“Man down!”

“…Hide?”

“I’m hit! Looks like this is the end of the line for me…”

Hide clutched the towel to his chest and staggered weakly, swooning with the back of his hand on his forehead.  
Kaneki hid a snigger behind his hand.

“Tell my mother I love her. Take care of Bradely for me… and tell him I’m sorry.”

Hide swooped onto the counter top before collapsing onto the floor, making excessive choking sounds as he went.  
Kaneki was laughing out loud now.

“Get off the floor you donut,” he giggled, peering over the counter top.

“No. I took a towel to the face. I’m dead.”

“I’m sorry I threw a towel at you, Hide." 

”‘Sorry’ won’t bring back the dead. A coffee might, though.“

"Fine, I’ll make you coffee. Please get up though. I need you to show me how to make one of those towel hats.”

“Aw fuck yeah,” Hide grinned. “Alright, you - actually could you help me up first - no, just give me your hand! Thank you - right hold your towel up like this.” 

Kaneki held his towel in front of him and looked at Hide for confirmation.

“Awesome. Now tip your head forward and bring the towel - no - how can you be getting this wrong? Just - oh my god - move your hands! You - you know what? Let me do it.”

-

This became a weekly thing. It was all sort of unspoken, but every Tuesday without fail, Kaneki would turn up to Hide’s café and coincidentally leave right when Hide’s shift ended. Perhaps it was because he fancied a new plant, or because the weather was shite, or because he didn’t have his bike that day, but Hide would always end up walking with Kaneki back to his flower shop. 

After a while, Hide stopped coming up with new and colourful reasons for needing to join Kaneki. 

Kaneki would wait patiently for Hide to hang up his apron and pick up his things from the back room. Hide would apologise for taking so long, and they would leave the café together. 

One week, they’d been walking for a few minutes before Kaneki remembered that his shop was being closed temporarily for repairs. 

“I’m sorry! I guess this means you can’t buy another plant this week, huh.”

Hide hoped that the implication here was that they could still hang out. True, he had purchased a plant every week without fail, but he thought it was pretty obvious at this point that his newfound liking for plants wasn’t the only thing that connected Kaneki and he.

“That’s ok. I think I’m running out of places to put them anyway. I might have to start growing ferns in my toaster.”

Kaneki laughed and nodded. “That’s alright then. What do you want to do this afternoon then?”

_Thank god._

“You call the shots, man. What is there to do round here?"

Kaneki folded his arms and tapped his finger in thought.

“There’s a high street down a few roads from here. We could check that out?”

“Leadeth the way, my good man,” Hide bowed deeply and swept his arm in front of him. 

“Down this way, I think,” Kaneki pointed to where the road took a right. He took Hide’s hand and led him down.

It felt natural. Hide knew that friends held hands a lot of the time, but Hide couldn’t help but feel his cheeks warm up the slightest as neither of them made a move to let go.  
It was comfortable.

-

They arrived at a cute looking high street, lined with charity shops, cafés and bookstores alike. 

“Anywhere you want to check out?”

“I’m always a slut for charity shops. I feel like I’m doing good as I buy second hand clothes for, like, half the original price.”

“Charity shopping it is then.”

They shuffled into the nearest shop to them and surveyed the interior.

“Holy shit Kaneki, look.”

Hide dashed over to where an old and battered looking guitar was leaning against the wall. It had a crumpled looking price tag that read “¥60017”.

“Who would give away a perfectly good guitar? Look even the strings are in t- wait no the strings are definitely not in tune.”

As Hide held the instrument over his knee and started turning the tuning pegs, Kaneki walked over to eye the guitar. He watched Hide stick his tongue out in concentration as he plucked a string, held his ear to the fingerboard and turned the pegs.

“Kaneki, could you hum a G for me? Wai- nope, I’ve got it.”

“You know how to tune a guitar? Do you play?”

“Eh, I tried it out when I was like, ten or something.” Hide strummed the open strings and made a face when it still didn’t sound right. He went back to tuning.  
“It never went anywhere. I think I might have played at a school talent show? But after that there was noone to listen to me play, so I didn’t really see the point. Got it!” Hide straightened and strummed the open strings again.  
“Nice. Whoever ends up buying this should be thankful I spared them a tedious four minutes of tuning.”

He bent down to place the guitar back against the wall.

“Wait!” 

Hide looked up at Kaneki, his hand still on the neck of the guitar. 

“I’d like to hear you play, if you wouldn’t mind. Do you remember how?” Kaneki enquired politely.

Hide blinked.

“You want to hear me play?”

Kaneki nodded.

“I - I’m not very good. I only tried for a few months and that was years ag-”

“I don’t mind. I’ve never played an instrument, I think it’s really cool that you can. I think that would be a sad thing to lose. I mean you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but…” Kaneki continued quietly, “I’d like to hear you.”

“Oh.” Hide murmured. Then he couldn’t help but grin. “Okay!”

He stood back and hoisted up the guitar, putting his left hand on the neck and his right over the strings. 

“Thanks for coming out tonight folks! I hope you enjoy this terrible rendition of Wonderwall.”

He cleared his throat and started playing.

It was terrible. He kept on forgetting the English, and for some parts just hummed the tune. He consistently played wrong notes, hit the wrong chord. Several times he had to stop just to remember where each of his fingers went before eventually playing the chord. By the end he was laughing so hard he couldn’t even get out the words he did know. Kaneki was laughing equally as loud and clapping enthusiastically.

“Encore! Encore!” 

Hide bowed as Kaneki continued to cheer and applaud.

“Thank you! What a terrific audience! I’ll be here all night!”

Hide had never really appreciated before just how nice it was to have someone he cared about listen to him play. He’d never really cared before. Hide would just do Hide. He’d get ignored and so he’d move on.  
But listening to Kaneki whoop and clap, begging for an encore, Hide felt something warm. Dare he think it, he felt oddly appreciated. This was nice.

Kaneki wanted an encore? Hide would learn one.

That afternoon, Hide bought the guitar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thankyou very much for reading!! <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [banging fists on table] KANEKI POV! KANEKI POV! KANEKI POV!

Kaneki was just hauling his book bag onto his shoulder when he received a text from Hide.

_> hey!!!! im not coming into work today im super ill :((((( _

_> dont let me stop you getting ur coffee tho im pretty sure touka makes it better than me anyways :I_

Kaneki sighed and let his bag drop to the floor, flopping onto the sofa next to him.

_< That's fine, are you okay? Do you need me to come over?_

The reply was almost instantaneous.

_> nah id just make u ill but thankyou!!!! _

_> if anything this is opportune time for me to practice for my role as the second coming of jimmy hendrix _

Kaneki snorted. Since picking up an acoustic guitar from a charity shop, Hide had come rather attached to it, and immediately set out to learn as much as he could. He was getting the hang of it too. He'd more or less gathered enough for a couple of songs, and was even having a hand at writing his own music. At the moment he was trying to learn Steve Reich's 'Electric Counterpoint', despite Kaneki's constant reminders that he would need another nine guitars to pull it off.

_< Whatever you say. Send me a text if you need anything though. Get well soon! :)_

_> actually yeah the tv remote is just out of reach could you come over and get it for me??_

_< Try sleeping, maybe. No way you can play ten guitars at once without enough rest_

_> touché my good man. aight i will heed ur words!! gnite fuck o_

_< Night, Hide. Don't forget to drink plenty of water! :) _

Kaneki tossed the phone beside him and tapped his leg in thought. He could go in for coffee anyway, he definitely did like it there. But he would be lying if he said he didn't mostly go to see Hide. His own work shift wouldn't start for a few hours, so he could even go back to bed if he wanted. 

Nah, he'd already gone to the trouble of showering and dressing. He might as well stay up now. 

With another sigh, Kaneki brought his legs up onto the sofa and pulled a book at random out of the bag on the floor.

It was a battered copy of _‘Catch 22′_. Kaneki wasn't very far into this one. Every time he would start from the beginning and forget where he left off. He'd forget again and again to mark the page and he could never find the last scene he could remember reading. So he'd just start back from the beginning and hope he'd remember to bookmark the page this time. 

Kaneki settled down and opened to page one.

-

Kaneki would consider himself a deep sleeper. He could stay awake for a damn while if he chose to, but once he got to sleep there was no waking him up for at least a few hours.

This, apparently, did not apply to Hide.

It can't have been more than forty minutes before Kaneki's phone buzzed again.

_> kanekkiiiiiii i cant sleep :(((_

_< Have you tried closing your eyes?_

_> hahaa very funny lets all laugh at the dying hide _

_< I'm sure you're not dying, Hide._

_> i feel like i am :'( im super thirsty but every time i try to drink i throw it back up_

_> ugh im sorry that is super gross_

Kaneki frowned and closed his book, putting it on the sofa beside him.

_< That doesn't sound good. Are you sure you don't want me to come over?_

There was a longer wait than usual before Hide replied.

_> yes please_

Kaneki waited for Hide to text him his address before shoving Catch 22 back into his bag and heading out the door.  
It wasn't until he was on the bus that it occurred to him that he'd forgotten to bookmark his page again.

-

The first thing that hit Kaneki when Hide answered the door was how un-Hide-like he looked. His skin looked pale and sweaty and there were bags under his eyes. He was slightly hunched over with one arm hugging his stomach.

Even so, he managed to greet Kaneki with a grin.

"Kaneki!" 

He opened up his arms for a hug before thinking better of it and stepping away. 

"Actually, I don't wanna make you sick. Thanks so much for coming though!"

"I'm glad I did. You look terrible."

"Bitchin'. Uh, make yourself at home. Help yourself to food, yadda yadda yadda. I have to go back to bed, like right now. I don't think I can stand for much longer." He laughed weakly.

"Yeah, you do that. Do you want me to make some herbal tea or something?" Kaneki took a step forward and closed the front door behind him.

Hide shook his head gently. 

"It's cool. I don't wanna be any trouble. It's just good to have you here in case of an emergency yanno?"

"Go to bed, Hide. I'll bring you some tea."

Hide visibly relaxed.

"Thank you."

After pointing out the kitchen area and the bathroom, Hide staggered off to his bedroom leaving Kaneki to work out where Hide kept his mugs. 

It also gave him ample time to study Hide's apartment.

They had known each other for a good few months, but it didn't hit Kaneki until now just how many plants Hide had bought off him. He spotted Bradley the anthurium to the right of a small TV. There were four small cacti lining the window sill in a row. A fern next to the couch, several trays of growing herbs placed delicately on the kitchen counter. And upon pursuit of a couple of mugs, Kaneki found flowers growing in all but one. Just to name a few.

After digging around the cupboards, eventually pulling out a box of herbal tea and putting the kettle on, Kaneki took to noting the other thing about Hide's apartment. 

He had expected it to be messy - perhaps a t shirt here, a couple of dirty plates there. But it was becoming clear that Hide took more care over his plants than his home, much less himself. There were empty beer cans strewn about the floor and coffee table. Some crushed, some not. Abandoned cigarette ends were piling up in a dirty looking ashtray on the coffee table. Takeout dishes were stacked up and ignored. 

Kaneki couldn't help but be worried. Hide was an independent and, when the occasion called for it, mature guy. He could take care of himself. But at the same time, Kaneki had grown to like him more than he had liked anyone else. He had yearned for this kind of companionship for as long as he could remember. 

Hide probably didn't even know how much he had lit up Kaneki's life. But that was okay. Because damnit, if Hide was so good then Kaneki could try to be good too. He was going to take care of his friend.

The kettle pinged.

-

"How are you holding up?" 

Hide lifted his head from the pillow to see Kaneki walk into his bedroom with a mug in his hand.

"I'm not throwing up as much. That's a win. I'm bored as fuck though, man, I can't sleep at all and I've got too much of a headache to go on my phone or anything." 

"You want me to keep you company?"

"Only if you promise you'll stay at least a meter away from me. I don't think I could forgive myself if I made you sick."

Kaneki agreed and handed Hide the mug, which he accepted gratefully.

"Maybe if you can drink that and keep it down you can try sleeping again. It looks like the worst is over."

Hide nodded slowly, keeping his eyes trained on the mug cradled in his hands.

"I can stay here if you want. While you sleep. Uh, to make sure things stay okay."

Hide parked up a little and turned to look at Kaneki.

"Really? Won't you get bored?"

Kaneki shook his head.

"I brought a few books. They can keep me entertained."

"Are you sure? I mean there's a TV in the other roo-"

"I like to read," Kaneki insisted. "Get some rest. I'll be right here for if anything goes wrong."

Hide smiled gratefully and set the empty mug to the side before shifting to rest his head on the pillow. He was facing Kaneki, who had taken a seat on the floor across the room.

"Hey Kaneki?"

"Hide?"  
"Thank you. For everything."

Kaneki smiled gently and watched Hide close his eyes. It wasn't until he heard Hide's breath even out that he dared to whisper, too quiet for anyone to hear,

"I should be the one thanking you."

-

"Your shift!"

Kaneki snapped his head up from _‘Catch 22′_ to see a dishevelled looking Hide bolt upright in bed and stare at Kaneki with wide eyes.

"Excuse me?" 

"Your shift! You have work today! I'm keeping you from work!"

Kaneki waved it off with a shrug.

"Don't worry, someone covered the shift for me."

"Covered? How long was I out?"

Kaneki checked his phone for the time.

"It's almost six now. You woke up a couple of times asking for water but all in all you slept through most of the day."

Hide groaned and dragged his hands down his face.

"I'm so sorry! God you must've been so bored, and you were going nothing with your day... did you eat? I said you could help yourself to things in the fridge, right? And you're not bound to the house, you could have gone ou-"

"Hide, it's fine. I - _shit_ , Hide are you okay?"

Hide had his hands clasped over his mouth and he was leaning forward, breathing heavily and shuddering.

Kaneki was scrambling up to help him before Hide lowered his hands and leaned back.

“I’m okay. I’m okay. I thou- I thought I was gonna throw up again, but I,” he took a deep breath, “I’m good.”

Even so, he leaned his head on the headboard and started taking long slow breaths. His face was shiny with sweat and was looking pastier than it had been a few minutes ago.

Kaneki frowned.

"I'm getting you some painkillers and some water. Stay there."

Hide chuckled.

"Good luck getting me to do anything else."

Kaneki snorted and moved to close his book and stand up.

"Kaneki, wait!"

Kaneki raised an eyebrow at Hide.

"Aren't you gonna bookmark your page?"

Kaneki looked at Hide, then down at the old copy of _'Catch 22.'_

He smiled. 

"Yeah," he replied. "Yeah, I should. Thank you, Hide."

Hide gave a weak grin but still his eyes seemed to sparkle.

"I should be the one thanking you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the first person who points out to me that kettles dont ping is getting kicked in the neck


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is it angst???? is it fluff????? both????? possibly even im not sure
> 
> ahaaa sorry for the wait but this chapter is sliiiiiiiightly longer so you have that innit

“Cheat.”

Hide narrowed his eyes.

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

Hide groaned and threw his playing cards at Kaneki, who sniggered and started picking them off the ground where he sat cross legged. 

“I told you this game wouldn’t work with two people.” Kaneki sighed. “Didn’t I say? And what did you reply?” 

Hide grabbed a pillow off his bed and lobbed it in Kaneki’s direction, who laughed and batted it away. 

“You said you didn’t care, because this is the only card game you know.”

“It is!”

“You’re not even playing it right. You’re supposed to take the cards when I call cheat, not throw them at me.”

“It was a fit of blind rage. And you’d better quit it because I’m running out of things to throw at you.” Hide grinned weakly and shifted on the bed so he was lying down. 

“Fine.” Kaneki leaned forwards to gather up all of the cards Hide had left on the ground and slid them back into their box. He stretched his arms up and Hide heard Kaneki’s back click, followed by a muttered “ow.”

Hide frowned. “You alright?”

Kaneki nodded, massaging the back of his neck.

“Mm. I think sleeping on your couch may have done a number on my back. That thing was not built for sleeping on.”

Hide groaned and flopped over onto his front.

“You could have gone home last night, Kaneki! And slept on a _real bed!_ I told you I was going to be okay.” Hide finished with a weak cough, which did little to help illustrate his point.

Kaneki raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, you told me that with your head in a toilet bowl,” he retorted. “I’ll take the couch for as long as it takes for you to get better.”

Hide smiled gratefully. Kaneki smiled back, then stood up.

“I’m going to make some tea. What do you want?” 

Hide considered for a moment.

“Whatever you’re having.”

“You only have one mug, Hide. I can only make tea for one person at a time.”

 _Shit._ Hide had completely forgotten about the state his apartment was in, not to mention the fact that most of his mugs had plants growing inside of them.

“Wait, does this mean every time you’ve made tea this whole time, I’ve been the only one drinking it?”  
Kaneki nodded.

“Hide grabbed the pillow from behind his head and hugged it to his face, groaning loudly.

"God damnit Kaneki, I’m too much of a handful. Use this mug for your own tea. You’ve earned your right to it.”

He dragged the pillow off his face to see Kaneki by the bedroom door, shaking his head. 

“Nope. You’re the ill one. By that logic, you have indisputable rights to the mug until further notice. Tell me what tea you want.”

Hide sighed and sank further into the sheets, eyeing Kaneki.

“Peppermint.”

Kaneki smiled gently and nodded.

“Peppermint.” He opened the door and added “Shout if you need anything.”

Hide watched him leave before calling “how about another game of cheat?”

From the next room came a muffled “Maybe if you learn the rules!”

Hide sniggered to himself and curled up into his duvet.

Hide played games on his phone for a few minutes, before getting bored and putting it on his bedside table.

Now he didn't feel as sick, Hide had plenty more headspace to feel bad for Kaneki. He was probably bored to tears of having to lug after Hide’s dumb ass. And now it turns out Kaneki couldn’t even reward himself with a nice cup of god damn tea, because Hide’s got dibs on the only fucking mug. 

Hide sank further down the mattress.

And god, what must Kaneki think of the apartment? Hide had been so busy feeling sorry for himself that he’d completely forgotten about the dumpster heap he’d invited Kaneki into. What must Kaneki think of him?

_You couldn’t have just thrown away your cans or emptied the ashtray once in a while, could you Hide. You just had to leave it all lying around in it’s own filth so Kaneki can see what a mess you truly are._

Hide sank further down the mattress.

Hide never told Kaneki that he smoked. It didn’t seem like a big deal. He’d never told him how much money he wasted on booze, either. It was kind of embarrassing, but it wasn’t like it was a problem. But now, damn, Hide felt ashamed. He’d left the evidence out in the open. What did Kaneki think of him? It’s not like he was a chain smoker, or an alcoholic. It was just something to do with yet another evening alone in your apartment living room.

Hide sank further down the mattress.

Was Kaneki eating okay? Hide said he could help himself to food in the fridge, right? Shit, the fridge is probably a wreck too. What about work? Is Kaneki missing work? Or class? Is Kaneki supposed to be in class? And what about his back? He can’t be sleeping okay on that sofa. And did he-

“Hide?”

Hide heard the door open and Kaneki’s footsteps towards the bed.

“Hide, come out from under there. Tea.”

Hide shifted upwards and the sheets fell off his head as Kaneki sat down on the edge of the bed and handed him a mug. 

“What were you doing through there?” Hide asked. “Good tea takes time, sure, but you were like fifteen minutes.”

Kaneki tapped his nose. “Maybe this is just exceptional tea, Hide.”

“Touché.”

Hide accepted the mug with both hands and brought it close to him, tracing his index finger along the rim.

“Thank you. Uh, not just for the tea. For everything.”

Kaneki smiled and just then, Hide wanted to cry at just how _good_ Kaneki was.

“It’s okay. It’s a pity that you’re ill, but it means I get to spend more time with you. And I’d much rather be doing that than whatever else I had to do.”

Hide’s heart lifted a little. 

“Really?” And then he added, hopefully less breathlessly, “You must’ve had a pretty shite schedule then.”

Kaneki giggled. 

“I was either gonna be babysitting you or a load of plants. But being here I guess I’m doing both.”

Hide took a sip from his mug and nodded in agreement.

“Want to know all their names?”

Kaneki turned to give Hide a deadpan look.

“You did not seriously name every single one of your plants.”

“Of course I did! What, you thought I’d play favourites with Bradley? No sir, I love them all like they were my children. I’ll show you when I go next door.”

Kaneki hummed and took a sip from his mug. “You’re going to leave bed today then?”

“Yeah. I’m feeling better, I think I’m gonna migrate to the couch. Change of scenery. An- wait - where did you get that mug?” Hide pointed at the mug in Kaneki’s hands. It was unnecessarily large for a mug, and had a faded picture of Garfield on it. Hide had absolutely no recollection of ever purchasing this mug.

“That had Reigen in it. Where’s it gone?”

“Reigen?”

“Yes, Reigen the lavender. Keep up.”

Kaneki looked down at his hands and started picking at the dirt under his nails. This was a little odd, Hide had to admit. Kaneki never had dirt under his nails (not that Hide had studied his hands long enough to notice that, nosiree). Eh, maybe he was so tired after looking after Hide he’d let himself go a little. Who was Hide to judge?

“Reigen the lavender is fine. I, uh, found somewhere else for him. It? I don’t know how much I should be humanizing these plants, Hide.”

Hide grinned smugly.

“Worried you’ll get attached?” 

“They’re non sentient, Hide. Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could form a loving relationship with a plant.”

“Fine, I’ll take Reigen to parents’ evening myself. But you can explain to our son why you’re not going to be there.”

Kaneki hid a snigger behind his hand.

“Son?”

“Sons.” Hide corrected. “Reigen’s twin, Bret, has parents evening the same night.”

“Twin? Is Bret another lavender? Why do you have two lavender plants?”

“They were buy one get one.”

“Ah. So nothing about not wanting to tear loving brothers apart, then?”

“That too. Rabbits die when they get lonely, right? You never told me that doesn’t apply to plants, so better to be safe.”

Kaneki nodded his head only slightly and looked pensively down at his lap.

His next words were almost a whisper.

“Do you ever feel like you’re a rabbit, Hide?”

Did Hide ever feel that alone? Certainly not when he was with Kaneki. When they were together, Hide always found himself content, as if he’d come home after a long day. 

But that wasn’t the question, was it.

“Yeah.”

-

Throughout the rest of the day, Kaneki stayed by Hide’s side almost consistently. He’d only disappear into the kitchen every now and then to make tea, or fix something to eat. 

For whatever reason, he would always take a suspiciously long time, and return with dirt under his nails.

Hide didn’t question it. That was Kaneki’s business. Most likely he was just savouring all the “me time” he could get, considering he spent the rest of his time in Hide’s company.

But, as guilty as Hide felt for keeping Kaneki here, he couldn’t help but be selfishly be _glad_ he was here.  
Glad he was here to look after Hide, like Hide deserved being looked after. Glad he was here to laugh when Hide said something stupid. Glad he was here to make fun of Hide’s misunderstanding of card games. Glad he was here to listen to Hide practice the guitar he kept propped up by his bed, to enthusiastically describe the plots for books Hide would never understand, and to hide his reddening face behind his hands every time Hide said something dumb.

Hide smiled to himself as he watched Kaneki brush a thumb across his lip, leaning further into his half-finished copy of _‘Catch 22’._

Perhaps Hide should allow himself to be a little selfish once in a while.

-

“I think I’m gonna go into the living room.”

Kaneki lifted his head up from his book to look up at Hide from his spot on the floor.

“Hm?”

“I’m getting bored of this room. Next door has a TV. Also I’m scared I’ll get blood clots if I don’t try moving my legs soon.”

“Fair enough.”

Kaneki bookmarked his page and stood up, stretching.

“Need any help getting out of bed?” He offered.

“Nah, I’ve got it.”

Hide hoisted his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, wobbling slightly. His duvet remained around his shoulders.

“I’m keeping this. Just because I’m leaving bed doesn’t mean I can’t be comfortable.”

Hide hobbled over to his bedroom door and seized the handle. He looked over his shoulder at Kaneki.

“You coming?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah.”

Hide opened the door and took a step into his living room.

“By the way, I’m so sorry about the me-”

Hide stopped.

Hide stared.

Hide surveyed the room.

There was not a mess.

“Ta - da,” he heard Kaneki sing weakly behind him.

Hide looked around silently.

All the clothes that had been left around were folded neatly and stacked up on a chair. Hide noticed the bin filled with takeout dishes and cigarette ends. There were no more ashes scattered over the coffee table or the arm of the couch. When Hide slowly craned his neck to look at the kitchen area, he saw that the surfaces had been wiped and the dishes were clean, drying by the sink.

“Have you, um, seen the windowsill?” Kaneki chirped quietly.

Hide hugged his bedsheets closer around himself and walked up to the windowsill. 

He looked. 

There were his empty beer cans.

Lined up, in a neat row. Some had clearly been dented before, but straightened out to allow them to stand up.

There were flowers growing in the beer cans.

The flowers that had previously occupied Hide’s coffee mugs were now sitting in a delicately arranged row at Hide’s window sill, blooming in abandoned beer cans he had never thrown away.

Hide was usually quite in touch with his emotions, he had thought.

If a movie was sad, he’d cry. If he was ignored, he’d be deflated, but he’d know to take the hint. If he heard something funny, he would laugh, and when he was happy, he would grin.

So Hide didn’t know why he started crying. He just noticed his view of the windowsill blur up, felt a lump form in his throat and the corners of his mouth turn downwards. He felt his nose scrunch up and begin to run. He turned and looked at Kaneki, gripping his bedsheets with shaking fists.

“Oh, no… Hide? I - I’m so sorry, I should have asked before touching your things- are you alright? Oh god, I-”

Hide stepped forward and flung himself onto Kaneki, the duvet slipping onto the floor. He held his arms tight around Kaneki, gripping the back of his sweater.

He buried his face into his shoulder and wept.

Hide felt Kaneki relax and return the embrace.

Hide didn’t know how long they stood there for. He didn’t know how long Kaneki held him, unmoving. He didn’t know if Kaneki knew the reason Hide was sobbing into his shoulder. God knows Hide didn’t have a clue. But he was thankful. Oh, so thankful that Kaneki was here.

He was here, and for as long as Hide should live, that would be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anyone has ideas for names for hide's plants for next chapter, please volunteer them! i have a handful but my dudes thats not enough
> 
> thankyou so much for reading!! i promise its up from here lol


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An entire chapter that takes place on Hide's second hand couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> almost at the end of this biiiihhhh thankyou so so much to everyone who supported my first ever fic!! it means a lot <3

If you had asked Hide before whether he liked silence, he would have probably considered the question for a few minutes before concluding that no, he didn’t. Silence to him was, in most cases, a reminder that there was no-one there to fill it.

An empty thing.

The notion that a silence could be “full” was something that only occurred to Hide as he sank into the back of his couch, leaning his weight on the warm body besides him. Hide’s blanket had been spread over Kaneki and he, cocooning them both. 

Kaneki was asleep.

After having spent the past day or two unconscious, Hide was more than happy to stay awake now, however drowsily, as Kaneki got what looked like some much needed shut-eye. 

Perhaps to call it _complete_ silence would be a bit of an exaggeration. From his place on Kaneki’s shoulder, Hide could hear puffs of air as Kaneki snored lightly. If he closed his eyes and concentrated, he could hear the quietest ruffle of sheets as Kaneki’s chest moved with every breath. It would be a lie to say Hide could hear any heartbeat - he’d have to place his ear on Kaneki’s chest, and as nice as that sounded, he was in no place to wake the poor guy up.

It was enough that he was so close to Kaneki right now - he knew, logically, that he should probably still be keeping his distance to avoid contamination, but _damn_ was this comfy.

Hide turned his head on Kaneki’s shoulder to look up at his face.

It was frankly mesmerising how peaceful he looked when he slept. Hide knew that when he was asleep, his mouth would hang open and he probably drooled plenty. Not to mention he’d fall asleep in a perfectly normal position only to wake up, like, hanging upside down or on the floor or something. 

Hide prayed that Kaneki wouldn’t mind Hide appreciating his face as he slept.

He brought up one hand to run a thumb over his cheek. They had what seemed to be a permanent blush, a light dusting of rose as if he had kissed by a fairy or something equally dumb.

He drew his hand up further to feel Kaneki’s hair. It was soft to the touch, if a little ruffled for having been asleep for the best part of two hours. 

Kaneki let out a small groan and shifted, and Hide retracted his hand quickly. _Shit,_ had he woken Kaneki up? _Abort, abor-_

Kaneki sighed in his sleep and brought his arm around Hide, pulling him closer. 

Hide allowed himself the tiniest of smirks. He supposed this would be okay.

-

“I’m not watching that.”

“But Kaneki! You’re the one who suggested we watch a movie!”

“I stand by that, but I also refuse to believe that ‘Shark Tale’ is the only movie you own.”

“Yeah okay that was a lie. I just really want you to see Shark Tale. But if you’re so desperate to have a shitty time, I’ve got Netflix. And that gives us an infinite variety of terrible horror movies I can guarantee neither of us will enjoy.”

“Wow, aren’t I spoilt for choice. It’s almost as if zero of the options you have given me are appealing.”

Hide couldn’t hide his grin at that.

“You’re only saying that because you’re still drowsy with sleep. Poor baby, rest your sweet head whilst papa Hide puts on Shark Tale.”

“Hide, if you mention Shark Tale one more time I’m throwing Bradley out the window.”

“Hey now! No need for that! If you’re going to threaten our children at least have the decency to remember all their names first.”

Kaneki failed to force down a smile as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

“Humour me.”

Hide sat up and rubbed his hands together. 

“Oh yeah, here we go.”

Hide pointed to a couple of potted succulents perching in front of the sofa he and Kaneki were on. 

“That’s, Ringo, the one next to him is George.”

“Like the musici-”

“Yes, like the musicians, well spotted. Over there - no, on the coffee table, the flower to the far left is Macbeth, next to him is Francis Xavier and then there’s Rachmaninoff but we just call him Rach.”

Kaneki gave an appreciative hum as he studied the small plants atop the coffee table. 

“I’m sensing a historical theme. I didn’t know you had such an intellectual side to you, Hide.”

“Oh no, you were right, I absolutely don’t. It just so happens Francis Xavier is a super cool name and perfect for an aloe.”

Kaneki laughed and nodded before gesturing towards a window sill on the far left of the wall where four small cacti sat in a row.

“How about those ones then? I’m hoping for more Shakespeare.”

“Ah wonderful, prepare to be disappointed. Those are Stanley, Eric, Kyle and Kenneth. Then to the next window along, where you’ll find the flowers you so kindly re-potted for me, we have Bret, Reigen, Paul, Kuzuryu and Kaito. And how could I forget good ol’ Bradley,” Hide concluded, gesturing proudly towards the ever present anthurium set besides his TV. “Want me to introduce you to everyone in the kitchen?”

“It’s funny, that would’ve actually made more sense without the context,” Kaneki mused. “And you’ve already thrown too many names at me for now. I think I need some time to process.”

He held the sides of his head and scrunched up his nose.

It took Hide an embarrassing amount of willpower to not lean forward and give his nose the tiniest of _boops._ Instead he settled with laughing and lowering his head back onto Kaneki’s shoulder, who responded in turn by resting his head atop Hide’s.

“Well alright then. We can revise the names another time.” Hide let out a breath that could have been a laugh or a sigh. “You’ve done enough for me.”

Kaneki hummed from the back of his throat. “I don’t think I ever could.”

“Pfft. As if.” Hide countered. He sat up slightly to face Kaneki with his eyebrows raised. “I would most likely be dead if you hadn’t come to take care of me. If it wasn’t enough that you missed work, you had to spend two days lugging after my sick ass and even had the grace to clean up the danger zone.”

“The danger zone.”

“Yeah, the living room had kind of become a toxic waste bin for the habits of Disaster Hide.” Hide leant back into the sofa so he didn’t have to look Kaneki in the eye.

When he continued, he could barely raise his voice above a murmur.

“I’m sorry you had to see that side of me.”

Kaneki was looking forward but his eyes were concentrated on nothing. Hide figured he’d let him think.

It was at least another couple of minutes before Kaneki took a breath and began to speak.

“I think one mistake we make when we evaluate people is that we see them as if they’re, like, squares.”

Hide couldn’t say he understood. He just kept silent and allowed Kaneki to take the time he needed to continue.

“We just imagine that people have completely different sides to them. Like, the side of the square that faces everybody is one Hide. And the side that drinks on it’s own and smokes to, to fill something, that’s another Hide.”

Kaneki looked down at his hands.

“I don’t know if you think that’s what you are, Hide. A basic shape with different sides. As if the different sides to you are bad, or not who you really are, or not who you want to be.”

Kaneki turned his head slowly to look at Hide in the eye. Hide couldn’t seem to find it in him to breathe as he did the same. 

“But…” Kaneki continued, “I don’t really see any of you as a different side to Hide. You’re more like a circle than a square. That is to say, um…” Kaneki cleared his throat. “Whenever I see you sad, or happy, or when you’re having to force politeness to rude customers, or when you cry during sad movies…” Kaneki looked away again, his eyes unfocusing. As he did, Hide noticed him slide his hand into Hide’s under the duvet.

Hide grasped it like a lifeline. 

“Whenever you make me laugh so hard I cry, or you tell me you feel lonely… I don’t… I don’t see them as different sides to you. They’re all just Hide.”

“Just Hide,” Hide whispered.

Kaneki squeezed his hand.

“Please… please don’t hide, or, or reject yourself just because you think there are bad sides to you, Hide.” Kaneki’s voice was just a whisper now. A little croaky. He sniffed. “If… if you can’t love just Hide then I will.” Kaneki’s breath caught in his throat. “I’ll love just Hide and all of Hide until you do too, and then after that.”

The hand Hide was holding was shaking. Hide couldn’t think of what to do but hold it ever tighter.

He knew his eyes must be wide. He could feel his mouth hanging open. He tried to force words out but only managed a choked whisper.

“You…”

Hide barely had time to notice Kaneki’s reddened face scrunch up and tears roll down his cheeks before he used the hand not holding Hide’s to bring the duvet to his face, as if to hide behind it.

“I… I couldn’t not love you, Hide,” Kaneki choked into the duvet. “I-if you don’t want me to then I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. You can try to forget, if you’d like, but if anyone deserves to know that they’re loved…”

Kaneki hiccupped and buried his face further into the bedsheet. shuddering with gentle sobs.

Hide felt as if his heart had stopped. As if time itself had been put on hold for the weeping soul beside him, clasping his hand as if it were the last time he ever could. 

Hide tried once, twice, to respond. 

No words came. 

Hide took a steady breath and looked ahead as Kaneki had.

If he could not formulate a response, Hide could say something else. He could start from the beginning.

“I’ve never loved someone before.” He began. He didn’t know where to focus his eyes. He couldn’t seem to zone out, so he eventually settled on Bradley on the far side of the room. “I’m not even sure I even love my own mother. I thought I did. Maybe I really do. I always presumed I did because I was supposed to.”

Hide noticed that Kaneki’s breathing had calmed a little. His face was still hidden, but he didn’t object when Hide shuffled ever closer to him.

“I don’t think I know quite what love is. I don’t know if I ever really have been loved before.”

Now Hide looked down at his one hand resting above the bedsheet.

“But I know some things.” _Deep breath._ “I know that you are my favourite person. I know that being with you feels like home, and that I would do anything if only to hear you laugh. I know that I want to come back to you every day for the rest if my life, and, and hold onto you as close as I can. And if you’d let me, I’d never ever let go.”

Hide looked down to where Kaneki was hunched over, now perfectly still.

“And now I’m saying it out loud, I think that’s what love is.”

Oh so slowly, Kaneki lifted his head to face Hide with a look of utter disbelief. His cheeks were red and tearstained, his eyes watery and bloodshot.

Hide didn’t know if he’d ever seen someone so beautiful.

Later on, Hide would reflect on how barely he registered moving towards Kaneki, or how Kaneki moved in unison with him.

He wouldn’t remember whether they threw their arms around each other first, or whether it was their lips that met. But he would never forget the bliss of Kaneki’s lips against his for the first time, or how his fists scrunched up the back of Hide’s shirt in a tight embrace. Kaneki’s lips were soft, if a little chapped. Lips almost sweet, but let’s be real, since when do lips _actually_ taste of anything. 

Perhaps most memorable of all was when they separated, and rested their foreheads against each other. Hide looked as deep as he could into Kaneki’s eyes, committing every detail to memory. 

Kaneki smiled, wide, and spoke in a low voice.

“God, you are such a dumbass.”

Then they laughed. It started out as a mutual giggle, then grew until Kaneki was howling and wiping tears from his eyes, and Hide was burying his face in Kaneki’s sweater and shaking with laughter.

They calmed down eventually, unlikely as that seems.

As Kaneki leant back on the couch, Hide leant his ear on his chest.

He could hear Kaneki’s shuddering breaths as his laughter calmed, the shuffling of the bedsheets over the both of them. And when he closed his eyes and concentrated, he could hear Kaneki’s heartbeat.

Hide didn’t really need to hear anything else.

The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was his hand, still entangled with Kaneki’s, gentle but firm.

Kaneki was warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think i'll add an epilogue chapter but thankyou erryone for reading :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we've reached the end folks lol
> 
> thanks so so much for your support and kind comments!! its been a lot of fun and youve been very encouraging :)
> 
> i hope youve enjoyed what you read and thanks for the ride <3

Pathetic fallacy, as courtesy of Google, is _The attribution of human feelings and responses to inanimate things or animals, especially in art and literature._

Hide remembered learning about it in literature. The use of certain types of weather in fiction would convey the mood of the scene - for example, a storm if it was sad, sunshine if it was happy, so on and so forth.

He couldn’t say he was inclined to agree that it had ever applied to his own life.

Hide liked the rain.

He liked the sound of it hammering outside when he was curled up and warm on a sofa with Kaneki snoring gently on his shoulder. He liked the thrill of running through the sleet with Kaneki clutching onto his hand, laughing maniacally at the hopelessness of trying to stay dry.

It only seemed appropriate that it rained on Hide and Kaneki’s wedding day.

-

_Hide span around and slammed the door shut behind him, panting for breath. As always, the bell above the door rang distantly._

_“Ken? Babe? I got your text, is everything okay?”_

_Usually Kaneki would call out to him from the counter at the back of the shop, but Hide didn’t hear anything besides his own deep breaths and the patter of rain on the roof. He brought up his phone to check his text history, just in case Kaneki had replied._

> hide!! are you free right now?

< from the constraints of societal expectations and crushing social pressures? no. am i busy today? also no, whats up

> that sounds like something I’d say. you’ve been hanging around me too much.

< ken darling i do believe we’ve been dating for four years now. its too late to get rid of me

< xxxxxxxxxxxxx

> guess im stuck with you, huh. anyhow if youre not busy would you mind coming down to the shop?

< sure thing baaabbee im omw

< do u need me for something?? ur not gonna make me carry all that compost again are u

< my limp noodle arms cant take it

> maybe. just get over here you donut

> Xxx  
_  
There had been no more messages since._

_Hide shrugged and slid his phone back into his pocket. Whatever Kaneki wanted, it better have been important. Despite getting the bus to avoid the rain, the walk from the nearest bus stop still left Hide utterly drenched._

_(Who was he kidding, Hide would have come over in a hurricane even if Kaneki just wanted a back rub.)_

_He trudged through the shop as he had hundreds of times before. It wasn’t hugely different from his first time visiting, though he was proud to say his influence had certainly called for some changes. He’d convinced Kaneki to repaint the door after months of insisting it would boost business. There was bunting hanging off the walls from when Hide had surprised Kaneki on his birthday and neither of them had the heart to take it down afterwards._

_There was also now an additional chair perched in front of the counter, for when Hide visited for either a chat with a coffee, or to serenade Kaneki with an old second hand guitar that lived in the back room of the shop._

_Hide had also tried serenading customers._

_Hide was now banned from serenading customers._

_From where he was, Hide could make out the counter, as well as the distinct lack of a certain somebody behind it._

_“Kaneki? You alright? Are you in the back?”  
_

_No response._

_The closer Hide got to the counter, the more he noticed how much different it looked as to usual. “Usual” meaning dusted with soil, a till hastily pushed to the far side by discarded flower ends, tools and unwashed coffee mugs._

_Instead, the top had been wiped clean. More noticeably, it was decorated with sunflower petals, lovingly spread over the otherwise empty surface. Sitting in the middle was a small black box. An open black box. Resting on a bed of red velvet was a simple gold band._

_Hide barely heard his own voice over the thumping of his own heart against his ribcage._

_“K…Kaneki?”_

_He heard someone clear their throat from behind the counter. Trying his best to stay calm, Hide took slow shaky steps round to the back of the counter._

_Kaneki was there, bent down onto one knee. His face was bright red, and Hide could see him steady his own breathing to try and keep calm. He was wearing pinstripe trousers and a cream dress shirt underneath his classic work apron, which was unusually clean. It was the single stupidest and cutest thing Hide had ever seen._

_Both of them had yet to say anything more._

_Kaneki stared up at Hide, who had brought one hand up to cover his mouth and the other grasping his elbow._

_Hide stared down at Kaneki, who eventually gulped, took a deep breath and closed his eyes._

_“Hid-Hideyoshi, ever since I met you at this counter, since you came into my life, I - I have been happier than I ever had before. Could you - um - w-would you please make-” he stopped for breath and looked up to meet Hide’s eyes. “If you wouldn’t mind, I want to spend the rest of my life as happy as you’ve made me now, and make you just as happy in turn. C-could I have the honour of making you my husband?” Kaneki looked down and fiddled with his thumbs, adding a tiny “please” under his breath._

_Hide burst into tears._

-

The rain began to fall before either Hide or Kaneki had woken up on the morning they were to be married. The first thing Hide remembered of that day was being shaken gently awake by Kaneki.

“Hey, Hide. Wake up.”

“Mmph. Five more minutes.”

“Get your head out the pillow,” he laughed gently. “Do you want to be late for your own wedding?”

Hide lifted his head from the pillow, only to bury it in the crook of Kaneki’s neck and sigh, wrapping his arms around his back and closing his eyes.

“We can reschedule. I hear next week has good weather,” he murmured, dropping a sleepy kiss underneath Kaneki’s jawline.

Kaneki hummed appreciatively and brought a hand up to thread through Hide’s hair.

“I’d rather not. I’m happy with the weather we have today.”

“You’d better be. Only the best for the most beautiful boy in the world.”

Kaneki’s chest bounced with silent laughter. “Why thankyou, Hide.”

“Who says I was talking about you.”

“Hey!”

“I’m kidding! I’m kidding,” Hide lifted his face and brought his arms up so that his hands cupped Kaneki’s cheeks. “You’re perfect. God, I can’t believe you’re letting me marry you.” Hide allowed a sleepy grin to spread across his face.

“Me neither,” Kaneki agreed. “But at this rate it won’t happen. Get your cute butt out of bed before I have to use brute force.”

“You think my butt is cute?”

“I’m never complimenting you again.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll get up. For a kiss.”

Kaneki raised an eyebrow. “You’ll be getting one later if only you’d move, Hide.”

“I’m gonna get out of bed! I swear! But I am a goblin who needs payment for the simplest of tasks.” Hide pouted and patted his lips with one finger. “My price.”

Kaneki sighed with a small smile before leaning down to peck Hide on the nose, who scrunched up his face in response. Kaneki sniggered and moved down to press his lips onto Hide’s.

“Better,” Hide mused once Kaneki had moved away and sat back up. “I guess I can move now.” He propped himself up on his elbows and, with great effort, heaved himself into a sitting position. He looked past Kaneki to the window, through which he decided that Kaneki’s evaluation of the weather had not been entirely accurate.

“It’s raining!” Hide wailed dramatically, flinging himself over Kaneki’s lap. “The whole day is ruined! And after I’d planned it so perfectly.”

Kaneki laughed and hoisted Hide up so he was sitting up again, though allowing him to rest on his shoulder.

“You had a plan for today? That doesn’t sound like you.”

“Don’t be rude! Of course I did. I go down the aisle in heelies, you’re so love struck that it takes four attempts to get your vows out. After you do, we go for the wedding reception that was paid for entirely by a lawsuit that I filed after slipping in KFC where they didn’t put down a wet floor sign.”

Kaneki raised his eyebrows sceptically as if to say “go on”.

“Once the guests leave, I carry you back to our hotel room to make love to my gorgeous husband. We never get round to it because you can’t stop laughing at my dick, so we eventually give up and watch Shark Tale instead. Then we fall asleep in each other’s arms, and it’s the romantic thing ever.”

Kaneki nodded slowly, looking pensive.

“That could work. Except you know I couldn’t laugh at your dick. I exhausted myself after the first five times I saw it.”

Hide rolled his eyes. “Oh ha ha. eat my ass, Ken doll.”

“Maybe later.”

“Oh, you-” Hide gave Kaneki a light push, who laughed and stuck his tongue out.

After a couple of minutes of comfortable silence, Kaneki spoke up.

“Now _I_ don’t want to get up. I blame you entirely.”

“It’s not my fault being in bed with me is so thrilling. But no need to worry, it’ll be here when you get back. And I’ll be in it as an added bonus.”

Kaneki laughed, light and sweet. “What, you’ll just be chilling there and waiting for me?”

Hide nodded. “Absolutely. And again tomorrow night.” He kissed Kaneki gently on the lips. “And then the night after that.” He brought his lips down to Kaneki’s jaw. “And the night after that.” He smiled against Kaneki’s collarbone. “And the night after that.” Chest. “And after that.” Hide kissed down to his stomach.

“Save it!” Hide barely had time to shield his head before Kaneki whopped him with a pillow.

“Hey!”

“No unnecessarily sexy behaviour before eight am. Not when we have more important things to be doing,” Kaneki scolded with a grin.

“You’re the boss,” came Hide’s muffled reply, face still squished against Kaneki’s stomach.

When neither of them made to move, they burst out laughing.

“Good to see how well we motivate each other, huh,” Kaneki mused.

“Oh Ken,” Hide sighed, reaching to hold Kaneki’s left hand and run his thumb along the ring gleaming on his fourth finger. He looked up and into Kaneki’s eyes with a smile he thought he could never be able to wipe off his face.

“I can’t wait to grow old with you.”

-

Sometimes Hide wondered what his life would have been like if things had been ever so slightly different. Say, if he’d gone into a different shop to shelter from the rain that fateful day, or if someone else had been working the till.

They say ignorance is bliss, and Hide had never welcomed ignorance so lovingly.

Hide would never know what it would have been like if he’d continued smoking for the rest of his life. He didn’t know if he’d ever have been able, or willing, to quit on his own.

He would never know what it would have been like to wake up to an empty bed for the years to come, without a warm body to hold.

He would never know what it would have been like to have no one tell him they loved him. And he may have never got to say it back.

Hide didn’t know a lot of things.

Some things, he did.

He now knew that the guitar part for Wonderwall is not that hard. (He also knew that if he didn’t get his shit together and learn a different song, he might find his guitar mysteriously smashed to pieces.)

He knew that quitting his job at that café was a good idea after all, and opening a quaint little botanical gardens with Kaneki had been his best career move yet.

He knew that terrible movies were ten times the fun with someone to laugh at them with. Or cry. Or just be emotionally open in general.

(They had both been happy with this development.)

He knew that his new favourite author was Oscar Wilde, and that Kaneki’s favourite composer was Stravinsky.

He knew where he liked to be kissed and touched, and how to love Kaneki in turn.

He knew that he was loved, and that was something he had never known before.

Hide was, undeniably, indisputably happy.

It was fine to not know things, he supposed.

After all, that’s what the future is for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thats a wrap!!
> 
> also 1) the reason hide's second hand guitar lives in the back of kaneki's shop is because he has another slightly nicer one he keeps at home, they decided to keep the other one at the shop because it has Sentimental Value and you never knew when hide needed to bust out a sik toon  
> 2) bradley was at the wedding  
> 3) the thing about hide liking oscar wilde n kaneki liking stravinsky was supposed to show them sharing interests, im not sure how clear it was!! sorry!!

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on tumblr if you like!! @ghoulsandsunflowers
> 
> and this is chopin's raindrop prelude, if anyone is interested!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OFHXmiZP38


End file.
